GDP growth levels concerning, says Gwede

ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe painted a grim picture of the country's economy during the party's NGC.

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Johannesburg - Interventions by government to stop the country from declining into a recession have largely failed to provide “sustained results” in economic growth and employment.

In his organisational report to the ANC national general council (NGC), party secretary general, Gwede Mantashe has expressed concerns with the growth levels of the country’s GDP in relation to jobs. He said although the party has made efforts to aid the situation, the problem appeared to be much bigger.

“Any radical economic transformation will remain a dream until the ANC effects fundamental change in the structure of the economy,” the report states.

Interventions mentioned in the report included strategic policy frameworks, national growth path, the industrial policy action plan and national infrastructure plan.

Mantashe said the council of over 3000 delegates needed to determine “whether these policy frameworks are enabling enough for the country to prosper and the economy to grow and create a high number of jobs”.

He said the country was at a point where the economy’s low growth rate was the “new normal”, struggling to deal with the problematic high unemployment rate.

Over 100 000 people are expected to be out of jobs by the end of this year, with the manufacturing industry compounded by harsh export conditions and a brutal global economy.

In suggested remedies, Mantashe said “we must emphasise that the ANC must find a way of encouraging the private sector to be part of the solution in the economy”.

Labour Bureau